Railroad-crossing.



. J. B. REESE.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED DE(J.30,1908.

, 930,883. Patented Aug. 10, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

amnnto'z J. E. REESE. RAILROAD cnossme.

- APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 30,1908. 930,883. Patented Aug. 10, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I Elwuentw 77 8666 UNITE'STATES' PATENT QFFICE.

JOHN EDwARnREEsE, or LoUIsviLLE, KENTUCKY.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 10, 1909.

Application filed-December 30, 1908. Serial No. 469,915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. REESE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefiersonand State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and therewith, this being true of either the north and south bound or east and west bound tracks vide a practical'and eifective foundation or supporting yoke for the crossing, by means of which the rails may be securely tied together and at the same time provision made for the arrangement of the operating'connections beneath the plane of the rails.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement .of parts as herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a plan view of the railroad crossing showing the east and west bound track in readiness for use. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the north and south bound trackin condition for use. Fig. 3 is an, enlarged vertical section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, illustrating the yoke construction and one of the locks. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the end portion of one of the slide bars.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the rails of the north and south bound track, for example, while 3 and 4 designate the rails of the east and west bound track.

The rails above referred to are all supported upon and by a common yoke 5, t e detailed construction of which is best illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein it is seen to comprise upper and lowerplates 6 and 7 respectively and interposed connecting uprights 8,9 and 10 arranged at all of the four corners of the yoke, only one corner of said yoke.

being illustrated in Fig. 3. Mounted to slide upon the yoke are two diagonal slide bars 11 and 12 which extend at right angles to each other and cross each other in the center of the square space which occurs between the rails of the crossing tracks, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The yoke is provided in the upper surface thereof with dove-tailed grooves or recesses 13 in which the end portions of the slide bars 11 and .12 are received as best shown in Fig. 3 and the yoke is further provided with a recess 14 which extends downwardly from the groove or recess 13 and is adapted to receive a tongue 15 formed on the under side of the adjacent slide bar, thesaid tongue being provided with a plurality of holes 16 and 17, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

Adjacent to each end, each slide bar 11,

and 12 is provided with a plurality of rej versely inclined rail sections, a, b, c, d repre- A further object of the invention is to pro-.

senting, for example, the rail sections of the east and west bound track, and c, f, g, h representing the sections of the north and south bound track These rail sections have their opposite ends beveled on parallel lines so as to'fit betweenthe separated extremities of the rails with which they are adapted to register as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. In order tosimultaneously slide the bars 11 and 12, I provide an operating rod 18 which is connected to a pair of bell-crank levers 19 and 20, the same being connected by links 21 and 22 to the adjacent ends of the slide bars 11 and 12, so that by pulling on the rod 18 the said slide bars are moved in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. By pushing on said rod 18, the slide bars are simultaneously moved in the opposite direction. Each slide bar is provided with two of the tongues 15, above referred to, and each tougue is provided with two openings 16 and 17 which correspond with the two limits of movement of the slide bar. A locking wedge 23 is employed in connection with each tongue, said wedge being in the form of a taper key, as best shown in Fig. 3 and adapted to enter and wedge itself within a correspondingly shaped opening 2 1 in the supporting yoke, with which opening 24, the openings 16 and 17 are adapted to register at the two limits of movement of the tongue. This arrangement adapts the slide bars to be locked at two separate and independent points, at each limit of its movement.

In order to simultaneously operate all of the locking wedges, I provide an operating rod 25 which connects to a bell-crank lever 26 from which a connecting rod 27 extends to another bell-crank lever 28 having a pin and slot connection at 29 with a toggle rod 30 which is connected at one end by means of toggle links 31 to a pair of oppositely arranged angle levers 32. These angle levers are in turn connected by links 33 to a pair of slotted toggle levers 34 arranged at opposite sides of the yoke, and the levers 34 are connected to the respective locking wedges 23, as best shown in Fig. 3 wherein it will be observed that each wedge or key is provided with a pendent stud 35 which extends downward through an opening in the lever 34, the lever 34 being fulcrumed at 36 on a post 37.

In operation, the rod is first operated to Withdraw the locking wedges or keys 23. The rod 18 is then operated to simultaneously shift the slide bars. Finally the rod 25 is again operated to reinsert the wedges or keys 23. This produces an absolutely reliable, safe and practical railroad crossing in which the rails in use are practically continuous after the shifting operation has been effected.-

What is claimed is 1. In a railroad crossing, the combination with the main crossing rails, of two slide bars crossing each other and extending diagonally of and across the space between the maln rails, rail sections carried by said slide bars and movable thereby into and out of alinement with the main rails, means for sliding said bars, and locking wedges movable into 1 and out of engagement with the slide bars.

2. In arailroad crossing, the combination with the main crossing rails, of two shde bars crossing each other and extending diagonally of and across the space between the main, rails, rail sections carried by said slide bars and movable thereby into and out of alinement with the main rails, means for sliding said bars, and locking wedges movable into and out of engagement with the slide bars, and means for sliding said wedges.

3. In a railroad crossing, the combination with the main crossing rails, of a supporting yoke, two slide bars mounted in the yoke and crossing each other and extending diagonally of and across the space between the main rails, rail sections carried by the slide bars and movable thereby into and out of alinement with the main rails, tongues on the slide bars, means for sliding said bars, locking wedges slidable into and out of engagement with said tongues, and means for simultaneously sliding said wedges.

4. In a railroad crossing, the combination with the main crossing rails, of a supporting yoke, two slide bars mounted in the yoke and crossing each other and extending diagonally of and across the space between the main rails, rail sections carried by the slide bars and movable thereby into and out of alinement with the main rails, tongues on the slide bars, means for sliding said bars, locking wedges slidable into and out of engagement with said tongues, and toggle lever con.- nections for simultaneously sliding said wedges.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN EDIVARD REESE.

Witnesses JOHN S. BUNTING, W. E. INGALLS. 

